July 24, 2013

Huntington Beach police say it appears the suspect sought in connection with a Florin-area house fire killed another man at a park in the Southern California community, then turned the gun on himself.

The body of 32-year-old Abraham Felmley was found Tuesday in Huntington Beach's Bartlett Park along with that of another man, identified today by police as Robert Andres Duran, 49, of Huntington Beach.

In a posting on the department's Facebook page, Huntington Beach police said detectives believe Felmley shot and killed Duran in the heavily wooded park before taking his own life. They said a weapon was recovered at the scene, but it is not known whether that weapon was involved in the deaths of Felmley's grandfather and uncle at the Florin-area house, or a Monday carjacking in Merced.

Meanwhile, a Southern California woman who said she had become Facebook friends with Felmley related that he recently dyed his hair orange, perhaps to resemble James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 people last year in a Colorado movie theater.

Felmley's grandfather, Chelsey Felmley, 84, and uncle, Dennis P. Felmley, 64, were found Monday in the remains of a burned French Road house in south Sacramento County.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Ramos said the official cause of death has yet to be determined. However, "both victims sustained injuries that were caused by something other than the fire."

The older man suffered blunt force trauma, perhaps the result of a beating. Ramos said the motive for the killings may never be known.

A young woman who developed a Facebook relationship with Abraham Felmley said he recently appeared to have mental issues. Hope D. Bennett, 19, of Whittier in Los Angeles County, said she was sickened by the news of Felmley's death and the killing of the three other men.

Bennett said that in Facebook messages Felmley stated, "I'm just trying to get some stuff of mine back" from his family and that he was being "treated like an outcast in the meantime."

"One of the last things he said was that he was getting sick of video games," said Bennett, who said she interpreted that to mean he was going to act out violent games in real life.

Bennett said that she and Felmley have mutual acquaintances but she never met him face-to-face. However, she claimed that he recently visited Whittier, staying with one of her friends.

That visit did not end well, Bennett said. "She said he flipped out at her," Bennett said.

Bennett was planning to meet Felmley face-to-face but decided not to because in Facebook pictures "he really resembled James Holmes, dyeing his hair bright orange. My gut feeling was I didn't want to go that route."

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